People automatically give celebrities such a pass for everything bad that they do. If Cosby were just an average black man, the jury would have found him guilty within minutes.

He'd have been executed during the arrest for "moving his hands toward his waistband."

He was resisting so the police had to shoot the violent 79 year old black man.

He presented a clear and credible threat, so what else could the six arresting officers do except gun him down?

That could have been a deadly weapon.

Do you know the Judges' instructions to the jury? They can be quite specific and influence what would appear to be an open and shut case. Did you hear all the testimony?

We should wait until deliberations are over and then comment on known facts.

I am an attorney and, while I don't know the specific instructions in this case, I know how juries -- and human nature -- work in the real world. See, e.g. nearly every single celebrity that was a criminal defendant in a jury trial.

what do you think about the judge sending jurors back - not just once but twice - to continue deliberations? I've never heard of such an occurrence. It seems to me that, if Cosby is found guilty, it would provide a compelling case for overturning the conviction on appeal.

because of the ONE holdout. I was on a capital murder trial once. The trial took 3 weeks, and deliberations one week. One person was holding it up.

I've been in a pool several times but never picked

we came in every day as usual, but it was grueling. i hope i never get put on another murder trial again.

If the state can't make the case in the first trial I don't know why they should get another try.

IMO anyway

The only reason Crosby is at trial is because he is a celebrity. The state examined this case in 2005 and decided not to bring charges. In fact the prosecutor said he would never file charges. Do you really think "an average black man" would be charged 12 years after being cleared by the state?

Watching a trial from the putside is absolutely nothing like watching it in the courtroom and even less like watching it as a juror.

You simple can't glean anything froma report on what's going on. And remember, the jury doesn't even hear all that you do.

questions I have always had:

Does the judge know what the verdict vote is before he sends the jury back to continue deliberation?
Does the judge has his/her own opinion as to what the verdict should be?
Does that knowledge influence whether or not the judge sends them back or declares a mistrial?

PS welcome to DU

1. No. We only find out when we poll as we declare the mistrial to assure its hung.

2. You don't get a lot of mistrials that you declare but absolutely you have your opinion. You just don't let on. I typically agreed with a jury but not always.

3. The only influence on a mistrial is whether we truly believe that the jury is flat deadlocked. It's your job to try and shake it lose for a verdict, but nothing else incluences your mistrial decision.

It's much easier to compartmentalize than one may think.

His career is ruined. He's going to live and die ignored, at best, and hated, at worst. That is absolutely the worst punishment that someone who has ever actually lived in the limelight could ever get.

The saddest thing about this is that his coworkers will suffer financially. All of his fellow actors on The Cosby Show will lose all of the royalties they would have ever received from the Cosby Show, because no one now wants to show it. It's not their fault this happened to them.

That was using his celebrity status to sway the jury.

Their own livelihood is seriously on the line.

It's not like any of their own acting careers have set the world on fire in the last 20 years.

able to live such a long life without shunning.

As for the saddest thing - it's what his victims have suffered. I suppose that includes his coworkers, but there's no guarantee shows will continue in reruns infinitely, and the Cosby Show had a pretty long run. That's show biz.

The women he assaulted? Now that's pain ...

I'm just saying that ALL the people he worked with are also paying for his evil.

There's an NPR Marketplace episode that talks about it here: https://www.marketplace.org/2014/10/24/business/ive-always-wondered/how-do-actors-make-money-residuals

The show is well past the 13th run. Admittedly, a tiny bit of something is more than nothing, but TCS was never that heavy in syndication. It wasn't Star Trek:TOS or Friends or Seinfeld or the Law and Order empire of never ending replay.

It sucks for them, but it may not be entirely devastating.

I'm sure the jurors were instructed to NOT take into consideration any stories from all the other women who have accused him, since THIS trial is focused on only the one woman.
But still, he admitted giving HER pills. And he had to know they would alter her state of mind.

and whether any evidence is admissible? I haven't followed that closely but it's the only thing I can think of as to why what has been said would not bring a guilty verdict.

The judge's eagerness to convict yet another AA celebrity strikes me as unseemly. He's already ruined so what's the rush? If this jury won't convict the next one will.

...the judge thinks, from watching the jury an hearing their questions, there is a chance they will come to a verdict. The judge has seen the jury throughout. When they come in with no chance of reaching a verdict, the judge will know. Judges are interested in getting a verdict. They might try to encourage a jury, but not if the jury is "done".

(despite their affirmations of being 100% objective and detached from emotions) could have ancillary issues to resolve.

* They can't convict if the Victim seemed friendly and social with Cosby after the rape.

* Even if they accept all the facts of the Victim, they are experiencing cognitive dissonance deep down. In other words, having grown up with Cosby's personae during the decades, they can't really believe he would give women pills to knock them out to rape them. The operative word is "rape". Cosby's already admitted giving the pills but claimed it was consensual sex. Plus with Autumn Jack (1984) claiming to be his daughter, conceived outside of his marriage, the public (to some extent) has accepted that Cosby has a history of extramarital affairs.

* Not to mention, even with the intellectual and logical acceptance that Cosby drugged and raped the Victim, there will be at least one juror who doesn't want the guilt of convicting Bill Cosby. In that case, you decidedly have a hung jury and a mistrial.